NBA Live 96

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking a look back at my season in NBA Live 96 PC, playing with a 1998 roster update.

I’ll readily admit that sometimes it’s difficult to get my head around the fact that it’s been over 25 years since The Last Dance came to an end. To put it into perspective, in 1998, that would’ve been the equivalent of looking back at the New York Knicks’ 1973 championship season! It doesn’t feel like such ancient history when your own nostalgia is involved, and as a Chicago Bulls fan, the 1998 season is naturally quite memorable for me. Those memories also involve the virtual hardwood, as it was during the 1998 season that I made my first roster updates for NBA Live 96 PC.

It was also one of the first seasons that I tried to play along with in a video game. Not in NBA Live 98, mind you. Unfortunately, our family’s aging PC couldn’t handle that game, as I found out firsthand when I tried running the demo! Instead, I used NBA Live 96 PC and my aforementioned 1998 season roster update. Although it was ultimately another season that I didn’t complete, it’s nevertheless one of my favourite basketball gaming experiences, thanks to all of the effort that I put into it beyond simply playing the games. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking a look back at my 1998 season roster mod for NBA Live 96 PC.

It’s overwhelming to think that the NLSC has been around for more than a quarter of a century! Our founders tipped things off in 1996, I took over in 2001, and we’re still around all these years later. Through all the ups and downs, moving to different hosts, and putting up with some nonsense along the way, we’ve managed to outlast a ton of websites. We’ve also outlasted more than a couple of basketball video game series (and indeed, video game studios and publishers). Unfortunately we’ve lost some mods and resources along the way, but we’ve still got some fun stuff from the early days.

To that end, our archives have preserved some of my earliest roster mods for NBA Live 96 PC. Upon discovering the NLSC in 1997 and all of the work that people in the community were doing, I was inspired to try my hand at some modding as well. I released that work through my own site – the NBA Live Domain – and felt immense pride when our founders added it to the database of mods on the NLSC. How do I feel about those mods today? It’s been a while since I’ve played with or taken a long look at them, so I thought I’d start by revisiting my 1998 roster for NBA Live 96, which I actually co-credited to my cousin Clinton. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m investigating a mystery that surrounds the portrait used for Yinka Dare in NBA Live 96 PC.

Just when I think I’m done talking about portraits in NBA Live 96 PC for Wayback Wednesday, another topic comes to mind! It helps that I’ve connected with Dee to play the game over Parsec on a number of occasions, and even felt compelled to whip up a couple of minimalist roster mods for it to celebrate March Modness earlier this year. NBA Live 96 PC is one of my all-time favourite games, so between all of those hours playing it when it was new, and revisiting it in the years since, I feel as though I know the game inside and out.

Of course, I thought the same thing about NBA Jam Tournament Edition PC and NBA Hangtime for the Nintendo 64, yet I discovered oddities and had them pointed out to me over two decades later! A vague memory of a court bug in NBA Live 96 PC also prompted me to investigate further, and confirm that it wasn’t my imagination or a modding error. Since I’ve been playing NBA Live 96 PC and messing around in its rosters in recent months, I was reminded of another mystery, this time involving the portrait that was used for Yinka Dare. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking a look back at the presentation in NBA Live 96 PC.

While the Super Nintendo version of NBA Live 95 was the first game in the NBA Live series that I ever played – and one of my first basketball video games, period – NBA Live 96 PC was the first hoops title that I actually owned. I remember the day I got it. It had been featured in an ad that showcased EA Sports’ 1996 season lineup, presented as the “EA Sports Countdown”. My basketball fandom was now in full swing, and I wanted to be able to hit the virtual hardwood without relying on a weekly video store rental, where my Season save files were constantly at risk of deletion.

It may have taken a boot disk to run it properly on a rapidly aging 486, and at one point I needed to use a scratch repair kit on the CD to get it working again (it’s never failed me since). However, from playing to modding, I’ve spent countless hours with NBA Live 96 PC, solidifying it as one of my all-time favourite games. Obviously I’m partial to it because of the sentimentality of it being one of the first basketball games that I owned, but I still appreciate the game itself: the on-court experience, the season it’s set in, and of course, that golden presentation. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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While I didn’t found the NLSC, I’ve been around since almost the beginning. When my family finally got the internet in 1997, I went looking for sites related to my interests, which obviously included basketball and basketball gaming. One of those Altavista searches brought me to the NLSC, where I discovered updated rosters for NBA Live 96 PC.

As I’ve said when reminiscing in various articles, this was a mind-blowing discovery! I was soon drawn into the hobby of modding – then called patching – and began making my own rosters for NBA Live 96 PC. To that end, on top of being one of my all-time favourite basketball games, NBA Live 96 PC is special to me because it brought me to this community, and introduced me to a new hobby.

I’m celebrating that love of NBA Live 96 PC and my community “origin story” with a couple of new releases for March Modness: a Draft roster, and a Jersey roster. The Draft roster places all original players on the teams that drafted them, or in a couple of cases, debuted with after going undrafted. The Jersey roster places all original players on the teams that match the jersey they’re wearing in their portrait. This has resulted in some wild fantasy lineups for retro gaming fun!

Download the Draft roster here, and the Jersey roster here. Additional details can be found below, and I’ve also created a support topic here in the NBA Live Vintage section of the Forum. For more information on getting NBA Live 96 to run using DOSBox, please see this guide. I’ll be tinkering with other projects throughout the month, but in the meantime, please enjoy this throwback as March Modness 2023 gets underway!

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This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking a look back at the player portraits in NBA Live 95 and NBA Live 96 PC.

Although our fondest basketball gaming memories come from what we accomplished on the virtual hardwood, our nostalgia encompasses everything about a title: graphics, sound effects, music, and the overall style. We fondly recall the smallest details, from the authenticity of Steve Nash lying on the floor in NBA Live 10 to Terry Mills and Oliver Miller having the same ratings in the PC version of NBA Jam Tournament Edition. When you’ve spent enough time with an old favourite to know it back to front, the most obscure details and trivia are embedded in your memories.

I’m not just trying to wax poetic with navel-gazing fluff here. I do honestly believe that, and it’s why I not only revisit games to produce Wayback Wednesday content, but also for my own enjoyment. It’s also why I don’t just do retrospective reviews, but also cover specific features and concepts in-depth. However, I’ll admit that it might seem like a flimsy justification to talk about – of all things – the portraits in NBA Live 95 and 96 PC! They are indeed an aesthetic element that are part and parcel of my nostalgia for those titles though, so let’s take a look back…way back…

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #452 of the NLSC Podcast!

After playing a co-op game of NBA Starting Five 2005 over Parsec, it’s clear why the game wasn’t a worldwide release! The Japanese-exclusive title is still interesting though, and it leads us to reflect on Konami’s history on the virtual hardwood. We also connected for a game of NBA Live 96 PC with work-in-progress Draft Rosters, and had a blast playing with and against stacked lineups. Our eagerness to play older games also points towards a feeling of ennui when it comes to NBA 2K23. After comparing Birthday Lineups, we open up the mailbag to quiz the community on the Top 7 Overall Ratings back in NBA 2K10, which featured a couple of surprises.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 54:09 — 37.5MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #450 of the NLSC Podcast!

We’re marking 150 episodes as a duo, and to celebrate, we’ve got some fun NBA trivia related to the number 150! In light of Kendrick Perkins butting heads with Ronnie 2K over his Overall Rating in NBA 2K throughout the years, we look back at the rosters in NBA 2K10 – his best season in the league – to see if he has a legitimate beef. We also revisited NBA Live 96 and NBA Live 99 PC using custom rosters this past week, and it’s safe to say that it won’t be the last time! We’re also paying tribute to the commentary of the late great Don Poier, and opening up the mailbag to some very kind words from our listeners.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:12:45 — 50.3MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

Episode #403 of the NLSC Podcast is out now! Derek (aka Dee4Three) and I are your hosts for this weekly podcast that’s all about basketball gaming.

The second game of our Semi-Finals series in the NLSC NBA Live 10 Tournament was marred by some technical issues, but we had much better luck with other games during a Parsec session. We recap one of the wildest games of NBA Jam Tournament Edition that we’ve ever played, using a fantastic 2014 season roster mod. Another highlight came when we revisited the PC version of NBA Live 96, and couldn’t help gushing about the presentation. Double Dribble also got a run (CORNER THREE!), though it did show its age. In this week’s mailbag, we discuss the arguments for and against paid mods, and how to avoid burnout when working on big modding projects.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:29:24 — 61.8MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Join in the conversation in the comments below, or here in the Forum! Additionally, feel free to hit us up with any feedback on the episode, as well as mailbag questions and topic suggestions for future shows. For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. The show also comes out on our YouTube channel, so be sure to subscribe for future episodes and other video content.

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in some nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content. This week, I’m taking a look back at the inactive players that can be found in the rosters of NBA Live 96 PC.

The PC version of NBA Live 96 is one of my all-time favourite games. I have so many fond memories of playing it, but it’s also a sentimental favourite. It was actually the first NBA Live game I owned; the Super Nintendo version of NBA Live 95 was the first game in the series that I played, but it was a frequent video store rental, and I didn’t add it or the PC version of NBA Live 95 to my collection until later. The game is obviously set in the 1995-96 season – also a personal favourite – and searching for NBA Live 96 content is what led me to discover the NLSC way back in 1997.

Even after I’d moved on to newer games, NBA Live 96 continued to be a valuable resource. Before Basketball Reference launched, we had to work a bit harder and consult various resources when we made retro roster mods, including older games. As I was quite fond of creating 1996 season mods, NBA Live 96 was one of my go-to resources. Unfortunately, its roster contained a few inaccuracies. While this certainly isn’t uncommon in games that predate official roster updates, the PC version of NBA Live 96 notably includes a number of players who were retired or inactive. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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Today’s file additions for NBA Live 96 feature an updated version of K Dub’s Hardwood Classics mod for the SEGA Genesis version. Pick it up at the link below!

K Dub
NBA Live 96 HWC (Sega Genesis) (Updated to Rev F)

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and File Additions bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in some nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content. This week, I’m taking a look back at the use of boot disks to play games on PC, in particular NBA Live 96.

Oh, I’m going wayback for this one! Way back to a time long before I worked in IT and could easily troubleshoot PC problems. Back to a time when my understanding of hardware and software was pretty decent for a ten or eleven year old, but certainly nowhere close to what it is today. We’re going back to a time when floppy disks were actually a thing, and not just an antiquated image used for the Save icon. It’s an era when computers were less powerful than the smartphones we now all carry around in our pockets, and weren’t always built for heavy duty gaming.

Today, we’re talking about boot disks. These days, boot media – generally in the form of a flash drive, as even optical discs are becoming outmoded – is still around, and is often used for installing and troubleshooting operating systems such as Windows. Back in the 90s, however, they were a way of getting games to run. Indeed, if your PC was getting a bit long in the tooth and the game was particularly demanding – at least by the standards of the time – boot disks were often the only way you’d get to play them. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in some nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content. This week, I’m going bug hunting in NBA Live 96 PC.

It’s strange how certain memories will randomly pop into your head. Last year, I whipped up a video illustrating a tall tale that I heard about Michael Jordan many years ago. It’s something I hadn’t thought about in years, but something jogged my memory, and I felt like reflecting on that ridiculous story. The same thing happens with basketball video games. I’ll randomly remember a feature or something that I once experienced, and it strikes me as a good idea for a Wayback Wednesday feature. It’s as good of an excuse as any to revisit some old favourites, too.

Of course, our memories aren’t always reliable. I’ve discussed the phenomenon of having false memories of basketball video games in The Friday Five, and indeed, I had enough examples for second column. It pays to double-check, and there are Wayback Wednesday features I’ve had to amend (and in one case, re-write completely) when I haven’t done my due diligence. With that in mind, on this occasion I’m making the research itself into the feature! There’s an error that I vaguely recalled encountering in the PC version of NBA Live 96, so this week, I’m going bug hunting. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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In the latest file additions for NBA Live 96, K Dub has released a new update (Rev E) of the 2020 season roster for the SEGA Genesis version. Check it out at the link below!

K Dub
NBA Live 20 HWC (Sega Genesis) (Updated to Rev E)

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and File Additions bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

It’s always fun to see classics updated with modern rosters, and today’s file additions for NBA Live 96 provide just such an update. Pick up the latest version of K Dub’s 2020 season roster update for the SEGA Genesis version of the game at the link below!

K Dub
NBA Live 20 HWC (Sega Genesis) (Updated to Rev D)

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and File Additions bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.